Time marches on, and with that comes the reality that people come and go.
For bands that are able to stay together for an extended period of time — which is often far more challenging that it sounds — keeping the exact same original lineup of people is close to impossible.
On the one hand, musicians who started their careers five or six decades ago have now reached ages in which physical health can sometimes be a concern. Not everyone can be Willie Nelson, who still tours in his ’90s.
READ MORE: Bands With No Original Members
“It’s so awful,” David Coverdale, the last remaining original member of Whitesnake, said in a 2023 interview on Sirius XM (via Blabbermouth), “getting older and having this burden of responsibility to try to be as good as you can so you don’t disappoint anybody.”
Dave Mustaine of Megadeth is another frontman who now finds himself the last man standing from the band’s original lineup.
“[S]ome people have called me a ‘perpetual badass,'” he told VW Music in 2022. “I remember the first time I heard that, and I thought, ‘Wow, that sounds like a Kid Rock album title.’ [Laughs]. But I understand it because when you’re not willing to give up, that’s when a lot of people can start to draw strength from you.”
There are a number of other people in the same boat as Coverdale and Mustaine. Below, we’ve rounded up 30 Bands With One Original Member Left. In some cases, the person happens to be the only one still touring with their group, and in others they’re literally the last person alive from the initial incarnation.
30 Bands With One Original Member Left
It’s down to the last man standing in these groups.
Gallery Credit: Allison Rapp